Norwegian army equips tank drivers with Oculus Rifts

The Norwegian army is using the virtual reality Oculus Rift headset to improve visibility for tank drivers, overlaying vital information in the same way a video game might.

TUTV filmed tank drivers and army personnel testing the kit, using systems built by Norwegian camera technology company Making View, which specialises in generating 360-degree experiences. The system could revolutionise multiple army systems -- if proven to be reliable -- when you look at the figures. According to army personnel the TV channel interviewed, the cameras used cost $2,000 versus the army's $100,000 cameras, and Oculus Rift will cost around $350, a whopping $34,650 less than military goggles. "It's very useful when you have to close all your hatches,"

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Major Ola Petter Odden of the army's Combat Lab told TUTV. "Normally you would be more or less blind because there is armour all around you. With this system you can see just as well as if you were seeing out the hatch."

The system feeds off information gathered by four cameras with spherical lenses fitted to each side of the tank. Obviously this is something that would need to be worked on -- right now they look like an easy target for firing, or even misfiring, seen as they are so exposed. The image is transferred through a standard commercial PC to Oculus Rift. The software "wraps the spherical image back to a normal view," explains Pal Vindfallet from Making View. "With the Oculus you can turn and see in every direction around the vehicle, this gives you an 185-degree overview from each side of the vehicle. This means that you can look straight down in front of the vehicle. You can turn your head to the left, look down and see your entire track, which gives you a complete overview of the vehicle."

Admittedly, Odden tells TUTV, the image generated and visible through the headset will be more strenuous for the eyes, and so it should be reserved for "when you think you could be shot at". "Over longer transports you might want to drive looking our the hatch because it's more natural for your head and you won't get tired that soon," he told the TV channel.

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The gaming elements that might be overlaid in the commercial sector are also introduced here. "With our software you can add elements we are used to from games," Making View's Daniel Ervik told TUTV. "You can have a map you can show each orientation, how much you tilt, the speed."

The army has been modelling the system since last year, but the report demonstrates that it is serious about taking it into combat situations -- more serious than ever now that the VR company has been bought out by Oculus Rift for a stonking $2 billion (£1.2 billion). "The fact that Facebook bought Oculus Rift means that they have strong financial backing and the development will advance just as rapidly forward now," commented Odden. "I'm optimistic we will soon have good enough goggles to run this as an operational concept."

A skeptic or two might pause over the possibility of the social media giant taking a foray into military services, and the potential crossover and information extractions that could occur -- after all, taking information when the customer is largely oblivious to it, is how Facebook makes its money. However there is no sign of Facebook interfering in the VR company's business plans, which focus on helping build a VR revolution for every industry through access to the low-cost device. In fact, Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey made it clear in an interview that the acquisition wouldn't interfere with its software development kit and that the company would remain autonomous. Of course, things can change.